| Arrernte Sign Language | |
| Nativename: | Iltyeme-iltyeme |
| Also Known As: | Aranda Sign Language |
| Region: | Central Northern Territory |
| Speakers: | none |
| Familycolor: | Sign language |
| Fam1: | Pama–Nyungan |
| Fam2: | Arandic |
| Fam3: | Arrernte |
| Isoexception: | dialect |
| Glotto: | none |
Arrernte Sign Language, or Aranda Sign Language, also known as Iltyeme-iltyeme (handsigns),[1] is a highly developed Australian Aboriginal sign language used by the Arrernte people of central Australia.[2]
Ilyeme-iltyeme is not generally used as a primary method of communication but used alongside speech, gesture and drawing practices. The language was first documented by Carl Strehlow in 1915.[3]
In her 2010 book Iwenhe tyerrtye: what it means to be an Aboriginal person, Margaret Kemarre Turner dedicates a chapter the Iltyeme-iltyeme and explains how it is used particularly during periods of grief and sorrow by Arrernte people and that it is used more by the older generations and people living on remote communities (rather than in regional centers like Alice Springs). Turner explains that the use of these hand signs are sacred and explains that her mother primarily communicated in hand signs while mourning for her brothers and sisters; of it she says;
A similar counterpart in central Australia is Warlpiri Sign Language (Rdaka-rdaka).